There is a growing consensus among policymakers that banks should be allowed to start charging customers for maintaining their current accounts. Despite the hostile reaction of the public, weaned on free banking, the argument runs that without the income from charges, banks are prone to selling all kinds of poor value products to their customers.

Lloyds was infamous for strong-arming customers to buy insurance cover for almost every eventuality while they patiently queued in branches. Payment protection insurance (PPI) was the ultimate scam product sold by Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and many other major lenders.

The billions of pounds set aside to pay compensation, so the argument goes, are the flipside of free current accounts, free cash withdrawals and in some cases limited interest free overdrafts.

If only all these areas of banking carried a charge, the temptation to fleece less educated or fearful customers with dodgy investments products and costly insurance would evaporate.

The presumption is that banks need to get back to a level of profitability last seen in 2005, 2006. Both on the investment banking side and from retailing, we must allow them to make big bucks again.

But banks need to return to their boring roots and charge accordingly. A utility bank can still innovate and maintain effective services. Why should we compensate managers, who will in all likelihood take extra revenues in bonuses, for restraining themselves from selling toxic products?

The UK has one of the speediest and most flexible banking sectors in Europe, as anyone who has travelled and worked on the continent will attest. We need to keep it that way. It's just that we don't need to line the pockets of bankers with gold, whether through bonuses or current account charges, for that to be achieved. Other utilities attract shareholders and investment, so can banks.